09 / Setup and Tuning

Road Runner 1.0 Install and Drive Class

Set up Road Runner 1.0 and understand the generated drive/localizer structure.

75 minRoad RunnerSetup and Tuning

You will

01Identify the Road Runner 1.0 package structure.
02Understand what the mecanum drive class owns.
03Keep Road Runner drive code separate from mechanism code.

Why Road Runner 1.0 Install and Drive Class matters

This lesson is about planned robot motion using Road Runner 1.0. Students should understand that trajectories depend on tuning, localization, starting pose, and action composition. Road Runner is powerful, but it only works as well as the robot model underneath it.

Starting point

Road Runner 1.0 is action-first

The new Road Runner docs at rr.brott.dev describe a 1.0 API with actions, drive classes, and tuning tools. This curriculum should avoid older 0.5 assumptions and teach the current mental model.

Drive code is infrastructure

The drive class owns pose estimation and trajectory following. Mechanisms should call into autonomous actions rather than cluttering the drive class with subsystem logic.

Build path

Use small validation steps: create the drive, set the start pose, run a short action, validate localization, then add more complex paths. Mechanisms and vision should be composed as actions only after the drive path works alone.

For this specific lesson, students should first restate the goal in robot terms, then identify the value or behavior they expect to observe, then run the smallest test that proves the idea. The lesson should feel like a guided lab: predict, run, observe, explain, and only then extend.

AutoDriveStart.java · Java

MecanumDrive drive = new MecanumDrive(hardwareMap, new Pose2d(0, 0, 0));

Action trajectory = drive.actionBuilder(new Pose2d(0, 0, 0))
        .lineToX(24)
        .turn(Math.toRadians(90))
        .build();

waitForStart();

if (opModeIsActive()) {
    Actions.runBlocking(trajectory);
}

Debugging and failure modes

Road Runner failures should be separated into layers. If pose is wrong, fix localization. If straight motion is wrong, revisit tuning. If the path is risky, simplify or preview it. If the full auto fails, inspect the selected branch, active action, pose, mechanism state, and finish condition.

Checks

The OpMode imports Road Runner 1.0 APIs.
The starting pose is explicit.
The first test motion is small and safe.

Check your understanding

Module check

Which docs should this curriculum use for Road Runner?

0 of 1 answered

References

Road Runner 1.0 DocsRoad Runner 1.0 installation, tuning, actions, and trajectory reference.FIRST FTC DocsOfficial FTC SDK and robot programming documentation.